Eric Holder on Fast and Furious: “My testimony was truthful”

Attorney General Eric Holder defended himself against allegations he lied under oath to Congress about when he first heard of the botched gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious, saying his testimony was “truthful and accurate.”

In a five-page letter to Congress, Holder wrote he has “no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it.”

“Prior to early 2011, I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation,” wrote Holder, who was defending himself for the first time since the controversy started.

Holder wrote he could no longer “sit idly by,” saying he had remained silent because his department’s inspector general has been doing an investigation of Fast and Furious, a multi-agency operation run out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in Phoenix.

The operation involved allowing straw purchasers to buy guns illegally and then tracing the guns across the border to Mexico to build a case against Mexican drug cartel kingpins. Holder acknowledged the operation was “fundamentally flawed.”

In May Holder told the House Judiciary Committee he hadn’t learned about Fast and Furious until a few weeks earlier. Congressional investigators recently released memos sent to Holder in July 2010 describing Fast and Furious by name.

Sen. John Cornyn (AP photo)

Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, Judiciary Committee chairman, have pointed to the memos in suggesting they contradict Holder’s testimony.

The White House has rejected Smith’s call for a special lawyer to investigate whether Holder misled Congress. President Obama has defended Holder’s testimony as truthful.

The accusations “mischaracterize the process by which I receive information concerning the activities of the Department’s many components,” Holder wrote. Memos his office receives are read by staffers for a deputy attorney general who “review these weekly reports and bring to my attention only those matters deemed to require my consideration or action,” Holder added.

It’s unclear whether Holder’s letter will satisfy Cornyn, who has called for the embattled attorney general to address the matter in person by giving sworn testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His office didn’t immediately have a comment.

Republicans on the House Oversight Government Reform Committee, which has been investigating the operation, swiped back at Holder.

“If Attorney General Holder had said these things five months ago when Congress asked him about Operation Fast and Furious, it might have been more believable,” Frederick Hill, committee spokesman, said in a statement. “At this point, however, it’s hard to take at face value a defense that is factually questionable, entirely self-serving, and a still incomplete account of what senior Justice Department officials knew about gun walking.”

Holder also criticized the “irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric” of congressional investigators, saying U.S. law enforcement officials don’t deserve “the disrespect that is being heaped on them by those who seek political advantage.”

And he sought to put some of the onus on Congress.

Holder criticized the House for shooting down a measure to impose reporting requirements for long-gun purchases.

He also said penalties for illegal straw purchases are “inadequate to deter such activity or to induce cooperation with law enforcement officials after a violation is detected.”

More than a dozen reassignments have occurred at ATF since Operation Fast and Furious became known to the public. The new acting director, B. Todd Jones, announced 11 reassignments just this past week. He also confirmed the existence of a similar gun-running operation, known as “Wide Receiver,” dating back to 2006.

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[...] Eric Holder on Fast and Furious: My testimony was truthfulBy Politector on October 8, 2011 in Operation Fast And Furious Eric Holder on Fast and Furious: My testimony was truthful Attorney General Eric Holder defended himself against allegations he lied under oath to Congress about when he first heard of a botched gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious, saying his testimony was “truthful and accurate. … Read more on Houston Chronicle (blog) [...]